Eating along the N line: Granola and chocolate never looked this good

Shopping is the primary pastime around the N train station at Prince St. and Broadway in Soho. When you need a quick break from browsing to grab a bite, these three options all offer something a little different.

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Greater granola

Since it opened four years ago, Xocolatti has earned praise for its uniquely flavored chocolates, like white chocolate slabs peppered with paprika and tart cubes of dried mango. Most draw from the Mumbai heritage of owner Shaineal Shah, who runs the business with his mother Mona and his wife Namrata.

Shah's family loves to cook and experiment, he says, and now they're adding a pop-up granola bar featuring his mother's uncommonly good blends, built on a base of organic oats, seeds and a little coconut oil. There's one with orange zest, milk chocolate and hazelnut, and another with rose hips and pistachios — both available as chocolates, too. The signature mix, says Shah, is the beautiful and bright "flora," specked with blue cornflower petals and flavored with hibiscus, lemon and lime.

Bottega Falai manager Andrea Priorelli shows off a slice of the shop's crepe cake with nutella filling and strawberries. (Andrew Schwartz/For New York Daily News)

Granolas are sold in 8-ounce packages — a refillable glass jar is $12, a compostable bag is $10 — or get a serving over yogurt from Soho neighbor Greecologies (with a Xocolatti-made fruit compote, $4.50) or over the gelato and sorbets the Shahs also make every summer.

Xocolatti: 172 Prince St., near Thompson St., (212) 256-0332

A taste of Italy

Bottega Falai may have changed hands since the respected Florentine chef Iacopo Falai launched it five years ago, but the handsome cafe is still one of Soho's best places to unwind over an $11 pour of Ombre prosecco or an espresso.

Now owned by former Diesel CEO Danilo Durante, this neighborhood favorite is run by manager Andrea Priorelli, who hails from Umbria and is fastidious about his coffees. Most days, you'll also find the famous multi-layer crepe cakes ($7) and Italian sandwiches on breads baked at Marm Cafe on Clinton St., which Durante also owns.

If you're lucky, Priorelli will have made a few of his $3 crostini — little toasts drizzled with good olive oil, arugula, buffalo mozzarella and cherry tomatoes, or maybe thin slices of the air-cured beef called bresaola, arugula, purple onion, lemon dressing and chunks of real Parmigiano-Reggiano. If you're really lucky, you'll stumble in on the monthly The Umbrian Underground parties Priorelli hosts, where he pours Umbrian wines and passes around sandwiches on homemade torta al testo, an Umbrian flatbread he bakes on a stone.

Bottega Falai: 267 Lafayette St., near Prince St., (212) 334-3132

Don't skip the square

The four-year-old Prince Street Pizza already ranks among the city's great slice parlors. Its tiny front room is full with aficionados, the occasional celebrity, neighbors and tourists alike — and not just because it took over the space that once housed the city's first Ray's Pizza.

In fact, with the exception of the pesto slice, says Dominic Morano, whose father Frank runs the business with partner Frank Badali, they've changed the menu entirely. The recipes are all their own, including a few from Dominic's Calabrian grandfather and great-grandfather, some from his mother's Neapolitan heritage, and many from Badali, a long-time pizza maker from Staten Island, where the Moranos also live.

All pies — it's $2.95 for a plain slice, while square Sicilian and grandma styles are $3.95 — are excellent here, and thanks to the crowds, they're almost always just out of the oven. But don't miss out on the specialties of the house, including the "Spicy Spring" pie made with fra diavolo sauce and a blanket of Italian chili-laced salami instead of ordinary pepperoni, and the "Broadway Breadcrumb," a Sicilian-style pie from Badali topped with tomato sauce, caramelized onions and seasoned breadcrumbs.